Lawrence Panza

copychat1969@att.net

I was "brain-injured" in a car accident caused by a drunk driver in 1988 just across the street from my house. I was ejected out of the rear door of the car and dragged under the car. I suffered an epidural hematoma and crushed the right side of my skull.

I had a craneotomy (removal of part of the skull) and was in a coma for approximately two weeks. I also had hemi-parisis, temporary paralisis on the left side of the body affecting everything from walking, talking holding a bowl of cereal and left side neglect in my left field of vision.

The parts of the brain that were affected were the right pre-frontal cortex and the right parietal lobe for the most part. In short I have problems with executive functioning i.e. decision making, following through with tasks. I also have difficulty with short term memory.

I had to learn how to walk again and had a plate put in six months after the accident.
It's been a long road almost like "pushing water uphill" would be a good analogy.

Twenty-one years later, I still have problems dealing with every day stress because of some of these issues. To most people I seem normal so when I have a blank look on my face and I drift off to somewhere else and forget what we were talking about, they often think I'm stupid or high.